Republican Tax Law Shortchanges Workers & Our Economy

GOP Tax Law

Republicans enacted partisan legislation that provides massive tax breaks to the wealthiest while leaving middle-class families behind and adding trillions of dollars to the deficit.

Instead of working with Democrats on bipartisan, comprehensive tax reform, Republicans enacted partisan legislation that neither helps the middle class nor promotes fiscal responsibility. Their tax law provides massive tax breaks to the wealthy and big corporations while raising taxes on everyone else after the first few years. 83% of the benefits of this law go to the wealthy and corporations; only 17% goes to working families. Moreover, the GOP tax law contributes to raising the deficit by more than a trillion dollars every year for the next decade.

Republicans jammed their legislation through Congress without hearings or allowing Americans to provide input about how it shortchanges middle-class families. Now that it has been enacted, everyone can see that it hasn’t dramatically benefited the middle class or small businesses and that it’s bringing further strain to our nation’s finances, which Republicans will use to justify slashing Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Democrats will continue working to promote the principles of fair, bipartisan tax policies that benefit the middle class and don’t explode the deficit. Furthermore, as Republicans now turn to their plan to gut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid in order to offset the deficits their tax law created, Democrats will stand firm in defending these programs so they can benefit Americans today and in the future.

Republicans promised a simpler tax code and massive wage gains from their tax law in December. However, every week we learn of yet another way these promises are failing American workers, as wealthy investors reap the benefit of corporate stock buybacks while workers’ wages fall.

…but we interrupt your afternoon coffees with a look at how Americans are faring under the GOP tax scam. While Republicans promised working families a $4,000 raise when they passed the law, workers’ wages fell for the second straight month in June and Politico reports today that CEOs are the ones benefitting from the law and receiving “eye-popping payouts.”

When Republicans passed their tax law, they promised that for the price of $1.8 trillion in new deficits and tax increases for millions of middle class families our nation would see unprecedented economic growth of ‘4%, 5%, or even 6%,’ as President Trump said.